Teens Prescribed Sleep, Anti-Anxiety Meds More Likely To Abuse Them

The Fox News (11/25) website reports that according to a study by University of Michigan School of Nursing and published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, adolescents “prescribed sleep and anti-anxiety [medications] may be up to 12 times more likely to abuse them compared to teens who have never received these prescriptions.” Investigators arrived at that conclusion after surveying “more than 2,700 middle and high school students online from the Detroit area twice annually from 2009 to 2012.” The study authors suggested that “substance abuse assessments, in addition to strict limitations on prescription refills, may help reduce the number of teens that abuse prescription” medicines. The piece also points out that a 2011 survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that three percent of US teens abuse sleep and anti-anxiety medicines.